On the other side of a private street entrance sits a
freshly painted white-colored waiting area with green-hued modern furniture.
Ready to greet participants of various HIV research studies sits a receptionist
behind an open counter.

Researchers summoned to greet their study participants
emerge from a closed door, behind which runs a corridor lined with exam rooms
fitted with state-of-the-art equipment. Nowhere lies a trace of the long-closed
Bull's Texas Cafe Restaurant that once called the ground floor
space at 25 Van Ness home.

"When I walked in for my
test, my eyes lit up. I couldn't believe I was in the same study or same
location or anything," said Jim Wick, 45, a San Francisco resident
who is part of an HIV vaccine trial. "It was like
walking into a brand new doctor's office waiting area to meet the doctor. It is
very sterile, bright, clean and new.
It was a big success."

The facilities are the new home
for the HIV research section of the city's Department of Public Health. The section's
old exam rooms and staff offices were housed on the upper floors of the
building and had a more business – rather than clinical – vibe.

The structure wasn't
built to house medical facilities, "so you can try to create this warm
experience but it is still an office you are entering," noted Derrick
Mapp, 47, a member of the community advisory group for the
HIV Vaccine Trial Network. "W
ith this new space it is still an office but much more
inviting and there is much more open space. It has
a warm feel to it; even the furniture has that living room effect to it."

City officials will hold a ribbon
cutting ceremony for the newly built, world-class research facility at
10 a.m. Friday, September 28. It will also double as a public unveiling for the
section's newly adopted name of Bridge HIV.

The section officially changed its moniker in late August
when it began moving staff into its expanded research and clinical facilities.
Its old quarters on several higher floors in the
building were cramped, as the section shared space with the staff of the HIV
prevention and HIV epidemiology sections.

"We have been crawling all over each other," said
Dr. Susan Buchbinder, director of the Bridge HIV section.

The changes came about due to the San Francisco Office and
Renovation (SOAR) project, funded by a $9.5 million grant from the National
Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health. An
eagle-eyed Bridge HIV employee, graphic designer Janie Vinson, saw a notice about
a competitive bidding process being offered through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The section submitted an application and the health
department project was chosen to receive funding designated for new or refurbished
research infrastructure. In total 8,000 square feet of clinic space has been
added and 9,000 square feet of existing space is being renovated.

"Universities have the resources to build this kind of
facility but the city could never build something like this," said
Buchbinder, who has worked for the public health department since 1988.

During a recent sneak peak she gave the Bay Area Reporter
of the new facilities, Buchbinder recalled how the
roof would leak on the section's computers at its first location on Market
Street. It then moved into 25 Van Ness and, as the AIDS offices expanded,
"we were bursting at the seams. We didn't have space for everybody,"
she recalled.

Standing in a new lab room, Buchbinder pointed out the
various equipment her staff can now use to conduct the clinical trials. A large
cabinet of drawers had orange Post-it notes affixed to it detailing the
contents held inside, such as injection supplies and urine samples.

"It is a beautiful lab. It feels three times as big as
the old lab we have. And this is much more advanced equipment," said
Kimberly Marsh, the Bridge HIV section's laboratory coordinator. "The
trial participants seem quite pleased. A lot of people say it looks beautiful.
The aesthetics are important because we want them to feel at ease when they
come here."

Construction began last fall and the former restaurant space
was completely gutted as part of the first phase. The ground floor space will
support Bridge HIV staffers who are conducting
studies into several HIV prevention strategies, such as clinical trials on an
HIV vaccine and the use of rectal microbicides.

The section will begin enrolling
men into the microbicide study in October. And it has the capacity now to
expand its prerogative further into other HIV prevention strategies.

The new set up also affords more
privacy for trial participants.

"Now we have our own reception area," said
Buchbinder. "People can come directly to us and don't have to sign in if
they come in from the brand new alley access," which is off of Oak Street.

Work is ongoing to remodel workstations and exam rooms on
the fifth floor and construct a new community meeting room on the sixth floor. That
work will benefit the HIV prevention section, which is gaining its own
remodeled exam rooms.

"It will be a wonderful place to reach
participants for the research the HIV prevention section does," said
Tracey Packer, the section's interim director.

A new secure space was also built for the department's HIV
registry that is separate from the other HIV sections so staff can move about
more freely.

"With improvements to several
floors in the building, we will expand our ability to conduct state-of-the-art
HIV research and promote collaboration between and within research units and
colleagues worldwide, stated Barbara Garcia, an out lesbian who is the city's
director of health.

For more information about the research Bridge HIV is
conducting, and how to volunteer as a trial participant, visit http://www.bridgehiv.org/.